I recently received an email from a Vietnamese student (I’ll call her “Hoa”) who just earned her bachelor’s degree in the US. Hers is the story of many young Vietnamese who study overseas, which is why I want to share it with you. I’ve changed the names to protect the innocent. 🙂

Hoa writes:

I am a Communication (Advertising/PR) major and I want to pursue a career in the US. I would feel very lost if I have to go back to work in Vietnam. The majority of writing I did in my undergrad is in English; I don’t even have writing samples in Vietnamese. The social networks and media that I’ve got so used to here aren’t even popular in Vietnam.

Hoa is a graduate of one of Vietnam’s talented and gifted high schools, where she majored in English as a second language. Most of her classmates (about 18…